Ideas for Christmas Greeting cards

Every year before Christmas, our mailbox fills with holiday cards from family and friends. I hang them on the refrigerator or banister during the season for display, but once the holiday decorations come down, I’m always looking for something to do with the cards. Recycling is a better option than throwing them in the garbage, but reusing the cards is even better. There are plenty of ways to give a second life to holiday and greeting cards — whether you are crafty or not.

If you receive a lot of photo cards that are printed on photo paper, you can still use most of these ideas, but for some crafts, you may need to paste the photo onto the “used” part of an old card to make them thicker or so you can write on them. Or start a Christmas card album where you can save the photo cards each year so you can see how everyone changes from year to year.

Gift tags

Create gift tags by cutting pieces of the cards into square, rectangular or other shapes and punching holes for strings or ribbons. Write “to” and “from” on the back of the tag if there isn’t any room on the front.

Bonus: If you get photo cards from people and will be giving gifts to them next year, cut out their photos and paste it onto a scrap from another card and punch a hole in the corner to make a personalized gift card – you won’t even need to write their names on the tags. You can also use your leftover photo cards as gift tags for gifts you are giving, as I did here with our cute dog Boof:

Postcards

If there is no writing on the inside of the front of a card, cut the front of the card with the picture down to postcard size. One the blank side, draw a line down the middle, put the address on the right side, and write your greeting on the left side. Ta-da! Holiday cards for the next season for the price of a postcard stamp.

(Note: Postcards must be rectangular, at least 3.5 inches high by 5 inches long, and no more than 4.25 inches high by 6 inches long to qualify for the postcard postage rate: 34 cents as of December 2014.)

My five-second example — I’m sure you can be neater than this:

Scrapbooking material

If you scrapbook, cut out pictures and words that you can work into your pages.

Recipe cards

Again, if there is no writing on the inside front, tear off the back page and recycle it. Write your favorite recipes on the blank side and add them into a card, gift or package. This would be great to accompany gifts of food and with wedding or baby shower gifts.

Placemats

Supplies: Cards, 11-by-17 paper, scissors, glue, clear contact paper

This is a great project for the kids. Have them cut out and arrange their favorite pictures from cards in a collage onto the paper, glue the pictures down and laminate both sides with contact paper. This would be good for special birthday or holiday placements using cards from the year before, and extra cute using pictures from photo cards of friends and family.

Coasters

Supplies: Cards, 4-by-4 ceramic tiles, decoupage glue (Mod Podge), clear sealer, self-adhesive felt circles

Find a picture on a card that will fit onto the tile. Cut to size. Put Mod Podge or preferred glue on the tile and place the card on top. Mod Podge again over the card (it will dry clear). Spray with a clear sealer. Place felt circles on the back to prevent furniture scratches.